Fasting for the Safety of the Little Ones

Sanctity of Life Sunday

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava,
that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a
safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. For
I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to
protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the
king, "The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who
seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who
forsake Him." So we fasted and sought our God concerning this
matter, and He listened to our entreaty.

It's not my main purpose this morning to rehearse all the
arguments we have given over the years in preaching and in writing
for the pro- life position. There are biblical reasons, medical and
scientific reasons, philosophical reasons, legal reasons, and
psychological reasons. But it is remarkable to me that, as every
year goes by and this anniversary of Roe v. Wade rolls around, new
validations of pro- life arguments turn up, because of the
obviousness of the evil of abortion on demand even to the moment
just before birth.

Let me give you just one illustration.

A Current Illustration

There is a debate going
on about the harvesting of organs from handicapped infants, namely,
those who are anencephalic—they are born with almost no brain
and cannot live a normal life, but will usually die in a matter of
days or weeks. One person said, "The qualify of life for this child
is so low it would be ethically justifiable to sacrifice its life
by a few days to save the life of another person."

Now that kind of reasoning is ominous for all handicapped people
and all aging people who are increasingly vulnerable to those who
would dictate what quality of life makes life sacred and safe from
termination. But what is most significant for the pro-life argument
is the reasoning of the ACLU in favor of taking donor organs (like
the heart) from anencephalic babies before they die a natural
death.

For decades pro-life advocates have argued that there is no
morally significant difference between a baby in the womb and a
baby outside the womb during the weeks just before and after birth.
In other words it is arbitrary in the extreme, from the standpoint
of the child, to say that it is legal abortion to kill a baby in
the womb but it is illegal homicide to kill a baby just after
coming out of the womb. This has been a strong argument for
respecting the unborn.

Now the ACLU has taken this argument and virtually endorsed it,
but used it in exactly the opposite direction, namely, to justify
the killing of some babies just after birth. The aim is to show
that permitting the termination of pregnancy up to the point of
birth is inconsistent with forbidding the termination of an
anencephalic child's life in order to use his organs to save
another.

Here's the actual wording of their argument:

There is absolutely no morally significant change in the fetus
between the moments immediately preceding and following birth.

In other words the argument that the pro-life movement has used
for years is conceded, but then used not to protect the unborn but
to remove protection from the newborn. If there's no difference
between born and unborn, and we permit the aborting of the unborn,
then we should permit some killing of the born in certain
cases—thus the ACLU.

How Fasting Should Enter the Picture

Now just at this point the penetrating earnestness of fasting in
the Christian church comes into the picture. At least I would like
to push it into the picture for us. This kind of reasoning is a
great evil. Taking one of the most obvious reasons for not
permitting abortion on demand and making it a justification for
infanticide is morally repugnant. It is another evidence that what
we are up against in the abortion industry is a great darkness.
This kind of perverse reasoning is evidence of what Paul calls
God's giving people over to a dark and "depraved mind" (Romans
1:28).

What I am suggesting this morning is that perhaps the Christian
church has not used all the spiritual resources available to us in
the effort to overcome such darkness. Have we sought the Lord with
fasting for the restoring of reason and light, and for the safety
of the little ones? I admit that I have not seriously, during all
my years of pro-life efforts, fasted specifically for the moral and
spiritual renovation that this kind of darkness demands.

Don't Misunderstand

I believe in the wide range of non-violent
efforts of the pro-life cause. And in the present atmosphere I do
stress non-violent. This war will not be won by bullets.
It will be won by brokenness and humility and sacrifice. It will be
won when we identify with the children in our suffering rather than
with the abortionist in his killing. And this too may be a call to
a new kind of fasting.

I believe that education is good, and I was thrilled with the
excellent news supplement, "She's a Child Not a Choice," that was
mailed to 900,000 homes in October and November of last year. This
is the kind of education effort that needs to happen again and
again. The words of Jesus have broad application, "You will know
the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32).

I believe that political action of pro-life people is good. God
ordains that governments exist for the protection of its people
from violence (Romans 13:3f.). For many of us this was the most
remarkable and gratifying thing about the elections last fall. Not
a single pro-life incumbent Senator, House member, or governor
anywhere in the country, whether Republican or Democrat, was
defeated by a pro-abortion challenger. In contrast, about 30
incumbent pro-abortion members of Congress were defeated by
pro-lifers. A fact which I did not hear or read in the news
media—another illustration of darkness.

Fourth, I believe in crisis pregnancy care. This is why we chose
to put CareNet's insert in the bulletin. The focus of this ministry
is prevention through compassion for women in distress (Luke
7:48–50). There are thousands of such centers and groups around the
country. The hands of Christ's people are extended, with tangible,
workable alternatives to abortion.

And fifth, I believe in sidewalk counseling. Story after story
is told of women who are given the truth at the 11th hour just
before their appointment, and are persuaded to save their child and
their conscience. (Check with Pro-Life Action Ministries, 612-771-1500.)

The Root Issue Is a Spiritual One

But at root the issue we are facing is a spiritual one—the
darkness and depravity of the human heart and mind. What I am
suggesting this morning is that we seriously consider the call to
fasting for the safety of the little ones. That we seek the Lord
through fasting for the gracious, powerful, liberating renovation
of the human spirit that would cause a person to wake up and say:
"How can I use the similarity between born and unborn to argue
for killing the born and not protecting the unborn? I will not do
that anymore. And I will turn to the Lord, Jesus Christ, for the
forgiveness of my sins and for new life."

The true renovation of heart looks to Jesus for the forgiveness
for all sins and for the gift of eternal life and the power to walk
in a way pleasing to God. Might not the cry of our hearts for such
an awakening of conscience and faith be made more full and earnest
and fruitful through fasting? Is that not what we are seeing in
these days?

What Happened in Ezra's Day

I got this idea from the story of Ezra in Ezra 8:21–23. Let me
give you some faith-building background to this text so you hear it
with all the force Ezra gives it.

God Rules and Moves Empires

Israel had been taken into exile. They had been there for
decades. Now the time had come for their restoration. But how could
this happen? They were a tiny, obscure ethnic minority in the
massive Persian empire. The answer is that God rules empires. And
when it is his time for his people to move, he moves empires.
That's the point of the first eight chapters of this book of
Ezra.

Look first at Ezra 1:1–2.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to
fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in
writing, saying, 2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the
God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He
has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in
Judah.'"

God had prophesied by Jeremiah that the people would come back
to their own land. God never leaves his prophesies uncertainly to
be fulfilled by the mere will of man. He himself acts to fulfill
the predictions he makes. So it says, "He stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus." So there's the answer. When God is ready to do a great
thing in the world, he can do it whether it is through a Persian
king or a prophet or a Christian pro-life worker. The key is God's
absolute sovereignty over the empires of the world.

Then what happens is this. A first wave of refugees
return—over 42,000 of them. They start building the temple.
But their enemies in Judah oppose them and write to the new
Emperor, Artaxerxes, telling him that a rebellious city is being
rebuilt (4:12). So Artaxerxes halts the work on the temple and it
looks like God's plans are frustrated.

But he had a different and better plan—O let us learn that
the lean years of trouble in our lives are preparations for
God's
blessing! In Ezra 5:1 God sends two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah,
who inspire the people to begin building again. The enemies try the
same tactic. They write a letter to Darius, the new emperor. But it
backfires and we see why God had allowed the building to cease
temporarily.

Darius searches the archives of the empire and finds the
original decree from Cyrus authorizing the building the temple. In
Ezra 6:7–8 he writes back the stunning news—beyond what they
could ask or think. He says to the enemies in Judah,

Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of
the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on
its site. 8 Moreover, I issue a decree concerning what you are to
do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of
God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal
treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and
that without delay.

What a reversal! What a great God! It looked as though the
enemies had triumphed. But God was simply working history in his
time so that the enemies would not only permit the temple but also
pay for the temple! Ezra 6:22 states the great fact plainly: "The
Lord had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to
encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."
God rules the hearts of kings and emperors and presidents and
senators and congressional representatives—even those who
don't trust him.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust him for his grace,
Behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face.

O the lessons here for us! Do you think the crash-and-burn year
of 1994 at Bethlehem is without some great saving purpose? Not if
our God is the God of Ezra! Do you think the election of a
pro-choice president two years ago is without some great purpose of
righteousness bigger and more stunning than any of us can imagine?
Is our God the God of Ezra?!

Then Ezra comes into the picture with a flashback to the reign
of Artaxerxes. The king sends Ezra with a company of people back to
Jerusalem. According to Ezra 7:6 King Artaxerxes gives him
everything he wants for the journey. Now why would the very king
who stopped the building of the temple do that? Ezra gives the
answer in 7:27. He prays, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of our
fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart." God
did it.

He did it to Cyrus (1:1); he did it to Darius (6:22); and he did
it to Artaxerxes (7:27). "The kings heart is like streams of water
in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he wills" (Proverbs
21:1). God is ruling the world. He is ruling history. We cannot
understand the infinite wisdom of his ways (Romans 11:34–35). Ours
is to trust and joyfully obey and worship.

Ezra's Fast

Which brings us to what Ezra did as he left captivity on his way
to Jerusalem. He refused an army escort so that he could testify to
Artaxerxes the power and faithfulness of God in protecting his
company of people. Instead of the king's help he sought God's help
and he sought it with fasting. Ezra 8:21–23,

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that
we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe
journey for us, our little ones [that's where I got the idea of
fasting for the safety of the little ones], and all our
possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops
and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we
had said to the king, "The hand of our God is favorably disposed to
all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all
those who forsake Him." 23 So we fasted and sought our God
concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.

In verse 21 fasting is an expression of our humility—that
is our sense of utter dependence on God for what we need. "I
proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble
ourselves." And believe me, we are utterly dependent on God if
darkened minds are going to be awakened to the light of life in the
battle for the sanctity of life. Reasoning has its crucial place.
But unless the sovereign God moves on the mind and heart (like he
did on Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes), the very best reasoning
will be taken captive and twisted upside down, as we saw at the
beginning.

And in verse 23 fasting is an expression of seeking God with
life-and-death seriousness. "So we fasted and sought our God."

The result at the end of verse 23: "He listened to our
entreaty." And they and their little ones came safely home.

I appeal to you to seek the Lord with me concerning the place of
fasting in breaking through the darkness that engulfs our state and
our nation on this matter of abortion. May it be that the Lord is
calling the church not only to fast in general for a great
awakening in our land, but also calling us to fast specifically for
the safety of the little ones. If you ask him, he will show you
how.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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